Evaluating the impact of teaching mindfulness to Educators in nine Wisconsin schools.

Abstract Information: This session will describe the evaluation efforts of the Eau-Claire City-County Health Department’s grant-funded project of supporting youth mental health. It will focus on the evaluation that was completed throughout the eight-year project to analyze the impact of teaching mindfulness to educators and coaching them to use mindfulness with students. The methods and evaluation models used throughout the project will be discussed. Participants were surveyed four times throughout the project: once before training was provided, once after six training sessions, once after three coaching sessions, and one final follow-up survey. These surveys were used to assess the changes in classroom environment, teacher stress, burnout, and staff experiences in the classroom. Analysis was completed to evaluate statistically significant changes that occurred during the project. This presentation will showcase the practical application of program evaluation and the story it can tell of real-life changes happening in the communities we serve. The project was funded by the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment to improve behavioral health. This presentation will showcase the practical application of program evaluation and the story it can tell of real-life changes happening in the communities we serve. The project was funded by the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment to improve behavioral health.

Relevance Statement: This presentation will showcase the practical application of program evaluation and the story it can tell of real-life changes happening in the communities we serve. We will briefly describe the data collection methods used (Redcap) barriers and what made it successful. We will discuss the data analysis methods and programs that were utilized (Stata) as well as the programs used to present our final results.